Palin and Huckabee are angry at NPR.

[guido911]

As Stephen Colbert noted, "Reality has a well-known liberal bias."  I think Williams was speaking his mind and merely speaking what many of us would think in that situation.  That's fine.  He's entitled to an opinion.

But...

He also presented a public image for NPR, and although I can't speak to the truth of this, I'd imagine there's a prohibition in his contract regarding conflict of interest and maintaining NPR's 'brand'.  Doing opinion pieces on Fox very likely violated his contract.

Williams has been on Fox for years offering opinions and THIS is what gets him canned? This whole event makes no sense to me.

[Townsend]

Fair point. I do not listen to much on the radio nowadays (I-Phone junky), so I am unaffected except to the extent that my tax dollars go there.

Much more of your tax dollars go to much worse places.

Give them a try.  NPR is a good source.

[guido911]

Much more of your tax dollars go to much worse places.

We can agree on that point.

[Townsend]

We can agree on that point.

and the crowd goes wild

[Conan71]

and the crowd goes wild

[nathanm]

[Cats Cats Cats]

So your employer can give you the choice to either work 24 hours a day for a week or be fired.  You can be fired for things you say on facebook.  You can fire people for being divorced from a family member.  But you can't be fired for things you say on national TV.  Got it.

[Conan71]

So your employer can give you the choice to either work 24 hours a day for a week or be fired.  You can be fired for things you say on facebook.  You can fire people for being divorced from a family member.  But you can't be fired for things you say on national TV.  Got it.

He's got pretty good grounds for a wrongful termination lawsuit, much as someone would after being fired for posting things on Facebook unless they were particularly slanderous or libelous toward the employer, co-worker, or supervisor.  Expressing an opinion to or on something which did not involve his employer isn't very strong grounds for dismissal unless there's something in his contract which specifically forbids him from exhibiting Islamaphobia in public.

[nathanm]

He's got pretty good grounds for a wrongful termination lawsuit, much as someone would after being fired for posting things on Facebook unless they were particularly slanderous or libelous toward the employer, co-worker, or supervisor.  Expressing an opinion to or on something which did not involve his employer isn't very strong grounds for dismissal unless there's something in his contract which specifically forbids him from exhibiting Islamaphobia in public.

His employment was likely at will, therefore leaving the employer with unlimited license to fire him. (as long as he wasn't fired for being part of a protected class or being a whistleblower, among a few other exceptions)

Employers pretty much don't need grounds for dismissal these days, unless there's a union involved and/or the employment contract specifically states that the employee may only be fired for specifically enumerated reasons. We don't live in France or Germany.

[Conan71]

His employment was likely at will, therefore leaving the employer with unlimited license to fire him. (as long as he wasn't fired for being part of a protected class or being a whistleblower, among a few other exceptions)

Employers pretty much don't need grounds for dismissal these days, unless there's a union involved and/or the employment contract specifically states that the employee may only be fired for specifically enumerated reasons. We don't live in France or Germany.

Lawsuits are filed every day on behalf of at will employees for wrongful termination, even when said employees are complete jagoffs.

[nathanm]

Lawsuits are filed every day on behalf of at will employees for wrongful termination, even when said employees are complete jagoffs.

They might get filed, and even settled, but as a matter of law, unless there is discrimination against a protected class involved (or other misconduct, like sexual harassment), they can't win at trial. The employee simply doesn't have any more of a right to a job than the employer has a right to force the employee to work for them. That's the purpose of "right to work" laws, after all.

Employers often choose not to dismiss people without cause, but that's because they don't want their unemployment insurance premiums going up.

[guido911]

That's the purpose of "right to work" laws, after all.

Um, did you mean "employment at will" laws?

[nathanm]

Um, did you mean "employment at will" laws?

The right to work law, at least in Arkansas, specifies that employees may not be required to join a union as a condition of employment, that employees may quit at any time, and that employers may dismiss for any time with or without cause, aside from a few exceptions related to discrimination.

Perhaps they were enacted as separate bills in Oklahoma and elsewhere; I wouldn't know.

[Cats Cats Cats]

Lawsuits are filed every day on behalf of at will employees for wrongful termination, even when said employees are complete jagoffs.

Your employer can force you to work as much overtime as they want and give you 0 notice.  If you don't work it you are fired.  That is the cause.  It isn't wrongful.  So I am sure 24 hours a day could get a lawsuit.  They could probably just work you 18every day until you quit.  Of course if they can fire you without cause then I guess it doesn't matter how many hours.

[Red Arrow]

Your employer can force request you to work as much overtime as they want and give you 0 notice.  If you don't want to work it you are free to leave.

Tough to leave in the present economy, I know.

I worked for an employer under a contract once.  They gave me training and many other perks including company housing and dining, clothing allowance, free medical and dental.  Down side included forced overtime, doing jobs I did not like which were sometimes not what I thought I was hired to do.  Working conditions were not always good and I was sometimes forced to temporarily relocate.  I could not easily terminate the contract but when it got to the end of the term I did not renew.

I've been an at will employee at several places since then.  I quit one.  I got RIFFed at two due to lack of business.